2023/2024 Athletic Awards
Freeski Awards
presented by billy potter
“Skier of the Year” - Adelyn Meyenburg
Out of our girls team, Addy stepped it up this year and has made excellent progress in many areas. She has made leaps and bounds in her confidence on the hill and has met some big goals that she had been working towards for a few years. Adelyn had to re-establish her seasonal halfpipe goals because she had met most of them halfway through the season. She’s been a great influence on the team, and brings her humor and positivity with her everyday. Big Congrats Adelyn. Keep up the hard work.
“Skier of the Year” - Samuel Vincent
Sam rejoined us at OMS this season, he started at OMS in alpine and switched to freeski last season, joining us for our weekend program. This season he returned to OMS for Freeski. Whether Sam is working on a new rail trick, a new grab or rotation on a jump, or boosting ever higher out of the halfpipe, he is always determined to progress in some way each and every day. If you know Sam, you know he wants to bring everyone up with him and is a great teammate. Congrats Sam.
“Charger of the Year” - Archie Weeple
The charger of the year award goes to Archie Weeple. This award highlights strong skiing fundamentals and creativity on the mountain. No matter what terrain we’re trying to tackle, Archie will approach it with a harmonious blend of finesse and power. Beyond freeski training, Archie just loves to ski. You’ll always find him out on the mountain exploring and enjoying the many facets of our sport. His passion for skiing is extremely prevalent, and passion is the heart of our sport. Congrats Archie.
snowboard Awards
presented by luke bonang, eddie johnson, matt fortuna & hobie chittenden
“Most Improved Female Rider of the Year” - Estelle Clark
Being brand new to this whole mountain school thing, Estelle has taken everything in stride and has improved immensely this season. Estelle had never set foot in a halfpipe and went from novice to a rider that can air out, spin back to back 360’s, and just learned a frontside 540!
“Most Improved Male Rider of the Year” - Donovan Mosca
Donovan’s insane work ethic, has really pushed his riding to a new level this year! “Donny” is not afraid to try new tricks and is always keen on hiking rails until he gets the trick. This tenacity in training has led to a much improved rider from the start of the season.
“Charger of the Year” - Henry Bonang
Henry pushes the envelope day in and day out in training and his passion for snowboarding and trying new things outweighs his fear of taking hard spills, which happen quite frequently to him.
“Coaches Award” - Keira Coyne
Keira is a gem to coach and is a great leader amongst the OMS girls squad. She is always positive, is eager to learn, and has improved greatly on her snowboard this season!
“Rider(s) of the year” - Max Rabdau and Tommy Okesson
This award must be shared by two of our older athletes who have been dedicated to training and progression and have killed it on the competition front. Tommy and Max competed in the Noram qualifiers this year and ended up at the top of the leaderboard with a tie for first place in the USASA Future’s Tour. Both have received a spot at the NorAm slopestyle circuit for the 24/25 season.
u18/U16 females & u16 males alpine racing awards
presented by bobby jones
“Most Improved”- Katie Boyle
Katie is the definition of work ethic. She shows up early to every session whether it be on snow or in the gym. She is always the first person to inspect, the first person to the gate and the last person on the hill on any training day. Her positivity and relentless hard work does not go unnoticed. Ski racing requires a tremendous amount of self discipline, self motivation and self coaching. To have success within the sport of ski racing it always requires these three attributes. Katie has mastered all of these traits. Congratulations to Katie on a successful first year of FIS, all of the OMS coaching staff looks forward to continuing to watch her growth in our sport.
“Coaches Award” - Cami Blount
Cami is truly a joy to work with on and off the hill. Her genuine love of the sport is one of Cami’s greatest strengths. This year Cami has advanced in her technical ability as well as with her tactical decision making in training and on race day. She’s always looking for feedback and other ways to improve her technique and get faster on race day. Cami has also demonstrated great leadership traits, whether it’s helping clean the van after a long road trip or even helping a younger athlete who’s struggling. Cami really hit her stride towards the end of this season, I am excited to see where the next season takes her! Congratulations Cami!
“Skier of the Year” - Emma van Heyst
Emma is truly a force to be reckoned with. Coaches and racers nationwide see the name van Heyst on the board and realize quickly it’s going to be a fight to find their way on the podium. This season Emma has had so much tactical growth, she could be faced with an almost impossible task and she will face it head on and without hesitation. Her growth in SL this season was the most impressive for me. She took something that she was visually frustrated with last season and turned it into one of her strongest disciplines. Her perseverance and true grit on the hill have been key elements to her success. I’m excited to continue working with Emma this season at U16 Nationals at Vail, Colorado next week and beyond. Congratulations Emma!
“Most Improved” - Ethan Laub
Ethan is hands down one of the hardest working skiers I’ve had the pleasure to coach. His dedication to learning and improving his technical and tactical skills has made him successful this season. Typically starting later in the sport of ski racing is often a drawback but not for Ethan. His efforts and desire to learn matched with his calm yet focused demeanor are key ingredients to his technical development and success this season. We are looking forward to seeing what Ethan does in his U18 years. Congratulations!
u18 males alpine racing awards
presented by chris hurka
“The Comeback Kid” - Tad D’Andrea
The beginning of the year for Tad started well. On 1/9 he won a run at the FIS NJR SL at West Mountain. Looking to win the race on the following day he had a great run going and got hooked up on a gate and twisted his ankle severely. At first he tried to brush it off and ski on after a couple days off but he quickly realized that it was worse than originally thought. After seeing Dr.Gammons they ruled out a fracture and had Tad take 3 weeks off with a severe high ankle sprain. Coming back from this he started racing again and building back to being able to push hard in his runs. Although not 100% he was able to ski well enough at the U18 National Qualifiers at Whiteface to make it to U18 Nationals. At Nationals, in rough conditions both days Tad was one of the biggest movers for the GS and SL going from 28th to 17th and 54th to 26th respectively. It has been an awesome experience working with Tad over the last several years. He loves to compete in ski racing but he also loves freeskiing. I look forward to the upcoming years to see where he takes his skiing!
“Outstanding Skier Award” - Sam Hambsch
It has been a pleasure to work with Sam for the last 5 years. He is one of the hardest working kids I have ever met. He is also an amazing athlete. Sam has proven that he is solidly the fastest U18 SL skier on the East coast by winning both U18 SL Qualifiers at Proctor and then the U18 group for the coveted FISK Trophy Cup at his home mountain Saskadena Six. At the US Nationals SL after almost going out he came back and won the second run. This is a huge accomplishment in itself, but more importantly is that when reviewing the video he realized that he had hooked a tip on a gate and he self-reported the DQ to the jury. His honesty means a lot more to me than athletic accomplishment, even at such a high level of sport, and I think this really speaks to Sam's character. I am grateful to have worked with Sam over these years!
“Coaches Award” - Carter Robinson
I still have the memory of Carter when he was a U12 and he would come and tune skis with his father at the competition center and we would talk about tuning and racing and skiing. He seemed enamored with the sport as a little kid! He has come a long way from that time but he still is just a great kid who loves skiing on ski racing. This summer Carter was struggling with a bad back issue and was not able to exercise or workout until the late fall. That said he was able to start working out and start skiing and has had a great year making some really positive changes to his skiing. Carter deserves the coaches award because he works hard, is smart, responsible, a great friend and teammate to his peers, a good mentor to the younger athletes in the program and is a great ski racer who is passionate about the sport of skiing. OMS is very lucky to have had Carter in our program!
“Leader of the Pack Award” - Graham Stein
I consider myself really fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Graham Stein for the last 6 years. Graham is smart, reliable, hard working, and a team player but most of all a natural leader. If I ever need something done from the group I would ask Graham and know that it would be taken care of and done right. Graham started his season skiing in Chile, Europe and was really starting to ski well in Colorado when he tore his ACL while training GS. True to character Graham started prehabbing right away for the surgery and did his research on the best place to get the surgery done. He is now pushing hard in recovery and I know he will come back stronger and more fit than even before.
“The Academic Athlete Award” - Dillon Poodiack
The first day that I met Dillon and his brothers Chase and Owen I was really impressed with how different they all were. I still remember thinking that Dillon was the academic of the group. That assessment was on point and years later Dillon still is the athlete who truly excels at his academics. I admit as a ski coach it was a little frustrating this season because Dillon always would put his academics before his skiing and he missed a lot of early season training because of it. That said, Dillon has had an excellent athletic year and is skiing faster and faster every week as well as continuing to overachieve in his schoolwork, a balance that is hard to find in this sport. I look forward to working with Dillon next season!
u14 alpine racing awards
presented by jet robbins
“Male MVP” - Max Herzog
Max finished the season ranked 1st in the Mid-Vermont Council events. Winning every race that he finished. This qualified him as an automatic to Easterns. In the VT State Championships Max was ranked 3rd for the series, with a 5th in SG, 3rd in GS, and 2nd in SL. Max has had an incredible season, proving his ability to do well under pressure and compete with the top racers in his age group. When looking back at his State ranking last season of 43rd, he has come a long way and improved a ton to make it all the way up to 3rd ranked skier in the State. It has been exciting to see Max grow and progress over the last two seasons and we look forward to helping him on his journey and seeing what he will do in the future!
“Female MVP” - Chloe Blount
Chloe finished the season ranked 3rd in the Mid-Vermont Council races. All 4 races she competed in she finished on the podium with one 3rd, two 2nd, and one win. She ranked 7th in the VT State Championships with 6th or better finishes in all the events that were held. Chloe is a hard charging aggressive skier. She gives everything she has on snow and in the gym. Proving her ability to be one of the fastest and strongest U14 female skiers in the East!
“Most Improved” - Lily Condlin
Lily is an intelligent skier that has a true love of the sport! She will often ask questions to try and get a better understanding of what she is working on and what steps she needs to take to improve. She started off with finishes in the twenties and by the end of the season was getting results in the teens. She was ranked 22th in the Mid-Vermont Council Series. What can't be quantified by results are the fast sections of ski she has had. She is on her way to putting together some fast runs. Lily is fairly new to ski racing and has made incredible gains in her skiing. We are very excited to see how she grows and improves next season as a bigger stronger second year U14.
“Male Coaches Award” - Matt Burns
Matt has had some very impressive results this season. Ranking 3rd in Mid-Vermont Council Races and continuing to get faster. Ranking 8th in VT State Championships, with a 2nd place result at the State SG. Matt’s results are not why he is receiving the coaches award. Matt is consistently on time and always knows what the training plan is for the day. Often letting other athletes know what they should be doing when they are unsure. He is always ready to lend a hand carrying gates. Often offering to help any coaches or fellow athletes. Matt did a great job leading the group and pushing everyone to do their best! Matt’s dedication and hard work has paid off big time with improved skiing throughout the season. Looking forward to seeing him tackle next season as a U16!
“Female Coaches Award” - Olivia Parise
Olivia is a hard working and dedicated athlete. She takes ownership of her training and is always ready for the day when she arrives at training. Often cheering for her team. She is there to support her teammates in good and bad times. Olivia is cheerful and has a positive outlook. We are excited to see how she grows as an athlete in the coming years!
U12 alpine racing awards
Presented by mike Cronin
“Most Valuable Player Award” - Henry Herzog
Henry loves to ski and ski fast! He was constantly on the podium in both SL and GS. He has improved technically and tactically this season, proving he is one of the top athletes on the East Coast!
“Rookie Of the Year Award” - Porter Whalen
Porter was new to competitive racing this season, but from the progress he made, it would be impossible to see that in his skiing now. His rate of development this year was off the charts. He excelled with major improvements to his movement pattern.
“All Gas, No Breaks Award” - Hayden Ho
Hayden is fearless and is always pushing the limits. Looking for speed comes naturally to Hayden. It’s a joy to watch him ski now, and he is definitely an athlete to watch in the coming season!
“Most Improved Award” - Luke Parise
Luke made terrific improvements to his movement patterns. Increasing both edge angle and upper/ lower body separation, Luke has made some major progress this season.
“Giant Slalom Specialist Award” - Isla Ulrich
Isla really came out of her shell this season. I was thrilled to watch her push her limits and find another gear in her skiing. Although she is also a very strong SL skier, her top awards were won in GS.
“Slalom Specialist Award” - Amelie Meyenburg
Amelie is a smooth operator. She skis very efficiently with little wasted movement. She was able to reach her top finishes in SL thanks to her strong technique and quickness.
“Tough as Nails Award” - Amelia Turco
Amelia was able to establish a true “big girl” movement pattern this season. The changes she made allowed her to unlock new levels of edge angle and pressure. Although sidelined with a serious injury, she was able to stay positive and fight her way back to skiing. She is hungry to continue ripping where she left off.